Florida: Flying in the face of holiday novelty

The beauty of travel of course is its infinite variety. Super-bespoke holidays can now be dreamt up and made reality within a few clicks. A breezy break to an Igloo Hotel on a frozen fjord in Greenland, anyone? It’s all rather exciting and, thanks to improved technology and discount airlines, an increasingly universal option, should we be so inclined. The question to ask in all this though is, with such a vast choice of holiday-type available to us, are we in danger of being tricked by the novelty factor?

In an age when ‘sharing’ via social media has drastically increased the perceived value of our own experiences, what we do and where we go have for the first time overtaken what we own in terms of importance. Experiences are the new possessions. Many travellers, mindful of this, choose obscure holidays in an attempt to seem cool, kooky… interesting. Then they spend their time taking selfies instead of authentically experiencing the place they are visiting. We all love a selfie but there comes a time when we should be looking at the sunset, not using it as a backdrop as we peer duckfaced into an iPhone screen. I would argue that the prominence of social media in our lives has lead directly to the popularity of novelty holidays, because it is these holidays that people perceive as being the most valuable to their online persona. The sad truth in these cases is that these people run the risk of denying themselves the genuine holiday they deserve.

One place that delivers exactly what a holiday should – laughter, smiles, wide-eyed excitement – is Florida. Year-round sunshine, hair-raising roller-coasters and long, white beaches all add up to a vintage experience. Also, you’ll be having too much fun to waste time on indulgent selfies. And the ones you do take will depict real enjoyment, not an igloo’s inner workings. Florida has the power to banish the superficial side of social media and restore good old-fashioned holiday fun. I suppose, what I’m saying, in a rather roundabout way, is that Florida is unpretentious. It’s the definition of a great getaway. When the desire to impress our social media followers leads to ill-judged choices when it comes to where to go, spare a thought for Florida, the Land of Flowers, where real holidays blossom.